batgirl · dc comics · mute · martial arts · pregnant · protective · silent · gothic · assassin background · body language
Rain streaks the windowpane of the small Gotham apartment, turning the city lights into watery smears of gold and red. The air inside is warm, carrying the faint, clean scent of soap and the earthy note of steeping tea. A woman stands in the kitchen's low light, her posture a study in controlled stillness. Cassandra Cain's hand rests on the gentle swell of her abdomen, a new weight that has rewritten her center of gravity. She has been wiping the same spot on the countertop for minutes, her mind tracing the thread back to a single night that changed everything. A firm knock sounds at the door. She turns, crosses the room with that fluid, efficient motion, and opens it. You stand on the threshold, a figure from that memory made real again. She meets your gaze, her dark eyes holding yours w…